Paint-applying device



Feb. 25, 1958 M. H. LUSSIER PAINT-APPLYING DEVICE Filed July so, 1954 l NVENTOR MAURICE H. LUSSIER ATTORNEY United States Patent C) PAINT-APPLYING DEVICE Maurice H. Lussier, Fitchburg, Mass.

Application July 30, 1954, Serial No. 446,898

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-1325 2 This invention relates to a paint-applying device utilizing a paint-applying roller and a paint pickup roller, and

including means providing for a new and improved simplified construction providing for motion between the two rollers under easy control of the operator, so that when too much paint has been or is about to be picked up by the paint-applying roller, the same may be moved away from the paint pickup roller, so that the painting action may be carried along smoothly and continuously, the operator being thereby enabled to apply an even, smooth coat of paint or other material to be applied.

The principal, objects of the invention include the provision of adevice as above described including a container having a handle for reception of the paint or other fluid material to be applied to walls or ceiling, said container providing for a paint pickup roller journalled thereon including means for puick and easy removal and reapplication thereof, in combination with a movable paintapplying roller located on a completely exteriorly mounted and easily actuated bracket for movement to and from the paint pickup roller, said paint-applying roller being located for easy application of paint or the like to walls or ceiling and providing for smooth, continuous application of fluid material as described.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a doctor blade also easily applied and removed with relation to the paint pickup roller; a new and improved paint container and exterior paint-applying roller supporting means, and other new and useful constructions as will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the device;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1 with the handle shown in elevation;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the paintapplying roller in raised condition; and

Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating the removability of the doctor blade and paint pickup roller.

In carrying out the present invention, there is provided a container indicated at 10. This container may be of any desired or conventional construction or shape, but

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end walls 14 and'not at the exterior portions thereof.

These slots provide parallel grooves for the sliding reception of the ends of a paint pickup roller shaft 24 for the paint pickup roller 26. The construction of this roller maybe as desired, but preferably it is relatively heavier than the-paint-applying roller and maintains its position at v the lowermostends of grooves 22 as shown in Figs. 2 and it is preferred that it be provided with a bottom and walls for containing an adequate supply of paint or other fluid material and that it be provided with a handle 12 which may assume any desired shape or form. Also, the end walls 14 extend upwardly above the general confines of the box or container and at the upper edge thereof at the side of the box or container opposite handle 12, said end walls are provided with downwardly-extending notches 16. These notches 16 open upwardly and provide for reception of the ends 18 of a center shaft in a paint-applying roller 20.

The paint-applying roller 20 may be of any desired or conventional construction, and is preferably provided with 4, with its periphery almost in contact with the bottom of.

the container 10, so that practically all of the material in the container will be picked up thereby for transfer to the paint-applying roller 20.. A doctor blade 28 is loosely mounted with its ends held in said grooves, as shown in Fig. 3, and rests by gravity lightly upon the periphery of paint-takeup roller '26, so as to provide for a smooth, even film of paint or the like on the pickup roller for transfer to the paint-applying roller.

It will be seen that the slots 16 have their lower ends at a position providing for the paint-applying roller to rest lightly on the periphery'of the pickup roller and ordinarily this construction, including the doctor blade, will provide for the required pickup and application of the paint.

However, it often happens that too much paint is taken up at one particular moment by the paint-applying roller, and this causes the painted surface to be uneven. This invention provides for a simple means for remedying this, situation by means of a generally U-shaped thumb or; finger-operated bracket 30 having a thumb-piece 32 co-- niciding in general with handle 12 and end portions 34; which extend outwardly of the ends of the paint-applying; roller and in parallelism with each other as seen in Fig. 1., The end portions 34 are provided with aligned openings: for the reception of the ends 18 of the paint-applying roller shaft. Bracket 30 is resilient and the ends 34 are easily bent into dotted line position as shown at 36 in Fig. 1, so as to release and remove the paint-applying roller. The end portions 34 of bracket 30 are also provided with pivot points as by aligned screws or pins 38 which are secured to the upstanding ends of the end walls 14. The bracket is thus completely external of the container and does not tend to become paint-encrusted.

The relationship of the parts just above described is that the ordinary painting position is as shown in Fig. 2, but when the operator observes that the paint-applying roller is picking up an excess of paint, he merely places his forefinger or thumb on the thumb-piece 32 and depresses the same about the axis defined by the members 38, thus raising the paint-applying roller from the surface of the paint pickup roller 26 and as long as sufiicient paint is thus held by the paint-applying roller, the reciprocation of the device to apply paint to a wall or ceiling may be smoothly continued and a smooth, even application of paint is obtained thereby. When more paint is needed, the finger is merely removed from the thumb-piece 32, and roller 20 descends 'by gravity ontoroller 26, turning the same to pick up and transfer more paint.

Having removed the paint-applying roller 20 for cleaning or storage as above described, the operator may swing the bracket 30 into the Fig. 5 position to provide for the removal of the doctor blade 28 and the paint pickup roller 26; so that the entire device is taken apart and" other material to walls or ceiling, and the. operator. is

enabled to apply an extremely even coatby. the invention described herein. Relatively cumbersome and complicated devies for raising and lowering the paint pickup rollers are completely avoided, and an instants touch is all that is needed to move the paint-applying roller from the Fig. 2 to the Fig. 4 position for the purposes described above.

It is also to be noted that the support. under the paintapplying roller is completely exterior of the container and in normal use does not be ome encrusted with paint. At the same time, the bracket 30, which does not extend into the container at all, is extremely easily removable if desired and is easily movable as described above for removing all of the parts which are in the container, said parts being only three in number and comprising the two rollers and the doctor blade. There are no other parts in the device which are in the container and which might become encrusted with paint.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but What I claim is:

A'paint-applying device comprising a container having end walls extending above the open top portion thereof, said end walls being downwardly slotted at their uppermost parts and being provided with interior grooves extending slantingly downward, a paint applying roller, the lower ends of the slots providing stops for the paintapplying roller, a shaft on the latter having ends extending into the slots, a paint pickup roller, the lower ends of the grooves providing stops for the paint pickup roller, a shaft on the latter having extending ends slidingly located in said grooves, a doctor blade slidingly mounted by its ends in said grooves and resting by gravity on the surface of the paint pickuproller, and means to manually raise the paint-applying roller from the pickup roller, the former normally resting on the latter by gravity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED. STATES PATENTS 

